Theo Walcott was pleased Arsenal avoided the same fate as some of their Premier League counterparts as the FA Cup holders held off a spirited Brighton fightback to progress to the fifth round on Sunday.

Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Southampton all suffered shock defeats on Saturday but Arsenal managed to avoid the same fate with a 3-2 victory at the Amex Stadium.

Arsenal were seemingly cruising when Walcott gave them the lead inside 90 seconds and Mesut Ozil doubled their advantage in the 24th minute.

Chris O'Grady pulled a goal back for Brighton five minutes into the second half, but again Arsenal seemed home and hosed when Thomas Rosicky restored their two-goal advantage four minutes later.

Brighton then set up a nervy final 15 minutes for Arsenal when Sam Baldock scored but the Gunners held on to take a step closer to retaining the trophy they won by beating Hull at Wembley last May.

Ex-Saint Walcott missed the extra-time triumph against the Tigers through injury but was instrumental in Sunday's victory over Chris Hughton's side, and the England forward was relieved that Arsenal did not follow some of their league rivals out of the competition.

''It's nice to get three goals but we will be disappointed with the goals we have conceded,'' he told BT Sport 1.

''We will look back at that and think what we could have done better but in the FA Cup it doesn't matter how you perform, as long as you get through it's the main thing.''

Walcott added: ''I think in patches it (Arsenal's performance) was very good. I think the (Brighton) goals put us under pressure.

''Rosicky got the third one which eased it but you've got to give credit to Brighton. They came at us and yesterday, with all the results not going for the Premier League teams, it was always going to be a tough game. That's what the FA Cup is about.''